Friends in Quito: Changing Lives

Touring the Zambiza dump.

Extreme Response’s slogan is “changing lives”. They are committed to changing the lives of people living in extreme, often life threatening situations. Primarily, they do this through partnerships with community-based organizations, helping them reach out to their neighbors. Our team have the privilege of visiting one of ER’s partners today: The Quito Dump Program at the Zambiza dump. There are 300+ people that live and work right there in the trash. These people glean their living by digging through the garbage that flows out of the back of garbage trucks, and survive on what they find to use, eat and sell. Today, we got to SERVE these 300 workers and their families! We helped prepare a meal, serve it to them, and, hopefully, give them a little more dignity and self-worth through our conversations and smiles.

We have all been learning what it means to “change lives” - those we are serving and our own - this week in Ecuador. God is working in each of our hearts and minds, and revealing to us individually what all of this means:

“Jose and Teresa minister in the dump every day. In addition to pastoring a church 70 miles away, they oversee 6 ministries within the Zambiza dump - Day Care, Medical Clinic, Bible Study, Counseling, Grave Yard Shift Support, and Womens’ Ministry. (They made me tired just listening to them!) Teresa talked about the Womens’ Ministry and the impact it has had. These women have little or no self worth. Many months ago, Teresa started teaching them to knit scarves so that they could sell them. For many weeks, these women didn’t believe they were even capable of knitting a scarf. Now, however, many of these women have scarves to sell for additional income. She had one with her and it was beautiful! She talked about how as she taught them to knit she told them about how our lives start like the ball of yarn but God desires to make something beautiful in each of them. Teresa got all teary eyed (and so did I!) as she talked about the changes she has seen in these women as they gain confidence in their abilities and began to understand that they have worth in the eyes of the Lord. Teresa tells each of these women (who see her as a women in a higher social structure and therefore, should be above even talking to them) that they have a lifelong friend in her. This is a woman who is changing lives. This is a woman who is committed to the Lord, her calling and these people. I am challenged by the woman of God Teresa is. What does it mean for me to be that kind of woman? How do I change the lives of people God has called me to?” -Mandi

“Conflict always arrises when we attempt to have two rulers in our life.” - Living The Lords Prayer by David Timms. This quote come up during our teams morning devotions and really made me think about how much greater of a light I could be if I let God be my sole king and take myself out of the picture. I often let my own ambitions rule over God’s own plan in my life. Throughout this week I had been struggling and praying over this topic. Then today I was at lunch during one of our team meetings and one of our team leaders pulled me aside and told me that God had been pulling on his heart to talk to me and tell me that God had some great things for my life, but I just had to be ready to surrender my all to him. I believe that God used this man to speak to me as an encouragement. I still do not know exactly how to surrender everything to God as I am still learning but I am continuing to pray and seek for God’s will in my life more than ever.” -Noah

“My life has been forever changed by our teams victory in the Great Cheese War (a race between two teams to see which team can be the first to assemble and pack 1500 sandwiches for the main event that will occur tomorrow) Ok, so maybe it hasn’t been changed, but it was a good time.

God has touched my life and the lives of those around me in so many ways throughout our trip. One of the ways that God has been blessing me through this trip is teaching me to enjoy the little things that happen. Although there has not been a significant moment where I have stopped and thought “I have changed that persons life”, or one moment that I have felt drastically changed my life, I think that God has been molding me through many little moments. One of these moments occurred today while we were serving the people at Zambiza.

The moment that touched me was before the lunch was served, there was a program being put on. There was somebody singing and a couple of people dancing. One of the ladies that was at the party came over to me and grabbed my hand to pull me out to dance. For those of you who know me well it would not surprise you to hear that I am not exactly the dancing type. However, as she was grabbing my hand I felt God tug at my heart saying that it was more important for the people to get some laughter from my ridiculous dancing than for me to be comfortable sitting watching. So dance I did, and laugh they did. But the cool moments not only came from the laughter I could hear that warmed my heart but also the short conversations I got to have as a result of the dancing. A couple of hours later we were serving the people the lunch that had been made. A few different people during the course of the serving recognized me as one of the white people who had danced before (as Noah also got the pleasure of dancing in the middle of the circle). One man I got to talk to for a few minutes, pointed out that I had danced and he thanked me for the meal and told me that it made him so happy that we were there to be with them. It has been the small moments like these that God has been using to form both myself and the people who we come in contact with.” -Aaron

"Since deciding to come to Ecuador, my prayer has been for God to break my heart. I wanted Him to break it for the sake of feeling a deeper compassion and desire to serve the lost and poor. And in the time leading up to this trip and especially since being here, I can say confidently that he has answered my prayer.. but in even greater ways than I could have imagined. This brokenness in me has been painful, it has left me completely dependent on God, and it has been one of the most exciting and transformative experiences of my life. I am craving more and more of this change in me as God is allowing me to experience it. My views on missions and what being a missionary looks like has been completely altered. I so admire Extreme Response’s methodology - to literally do as Jesus did... be His hands, His feet, and His skin while serving the “least of these.” THAT is what I am called to do! I am praying earnestly for the Holy Spirit to continue to move in and through me, allowing me to learn and grow and discover what my purpose in God’s kingdom is. I am praying for Him to reveal more to me about what my ministry will look like through this experience. I am praying for more change and transformation. But, while God is still not done with me yet, I trust that He can use my gifts to fulfill the biblical command (Matthew 25) to help the poor while here in Ecuador. To change the life of someone else. It is by God’s power, and His alone, that this can and will happen. As Psalm 34: 17-19, 22 states, “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time... The Lord will redeem those who serve him.” Amen.” -Megan

“To change a life, it needs to start with your own. It can not be changed in a moment or a day or a week. It takes time to do that. I also felt that being here in Ecuador for a short time wouldn’t be enough to change a life. But, then I realized that our families and friends have spent so much time planning and supporting in many different ways for us to be here, that Extreme Response is continuously doing these events with groups of volunteers, and people are making a difference in the lives of all these children year round. Now, I really believe the lives of all involved are being changed. I also believe this Christmas will be different for all of us. It will be in mine for sure, thanks to you!” -Luis

“This is day 5 of our Quito experience. There are 20 people on our team from all ages, stages and walks of life. From working long days together, shoulder to shoulder, our protective walls have come down and we are freely expressing life’s comedies and tragedies. The expressions are deep. Laughter is loud and tears of compassion are flowing. The contrasting emotions are overwhelming at times. There are the embarrassing moments of laughter that come from what happens when you eat a food that your body is not used to and at an elevation of 10,000 feet (that’s my excuse anyway!) Aaron has dubbed it “the walk of shame.” Thank you, Lord, for humor. Then there was the moment when I could hardly breathe. Not because of the altitude but because of what happens when your heart is moved so deeply from emotion that it is hard to take a breath and you utter to yourself, “no, not here - hold it together, hold it together.” At that moment the real life stories of these people became a part of my reality. There is the story of the mother who is missing fingers because when she was an infant one or more of her digits were nibbled off by a rat. I am serving her. She is seated with her own daughter - but because of what God has done through Extreme Response, this little girl has all of her fingers. This is one changed life. Tomorrow is the big day when we serve 3000 at the Zambiza dump. Thank you, Lord, for compassion.” -Steve